Simply a Knucklehead
by King Seeker
Summary: Constantly being overshadowed by another person can really suck the fun out of life. This is probably how Eren Yeager feels about his overprotective adopted sister Mikasa. In a world where super powers are commonplace, He sets out to achieve something, though he isn't really sure what it is. On the way, he teams up with a few unexpected companions. Fighting Tournament AU.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N:Hey guys! King Seeker here. It's been a long time since I've tried writing a story(I get absolutely no time in college) and it seems I'm finding it extremely difficult to return to my writing habits._**

 ** _However, I did get a lot of time to check out a whole lot of content, including manhwa, webcomics and a few anime such as Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. Combine this with the beginning of the second season of Shingeki no Kyojin and I was suddenly motivated to write a cool super-power/fighting-tournament-type story with characters from the attack on titan universe, not simply to improve my writing but also entertain myself a bit and get myself into a writing habit(I've always seemed to have a problem with finishing stories and overcoming writer's block)._**

 ** _This is essentially what it's all about. I don't expect I'll have much of a plot for this, but I hope you readers find it at least mildly entertaining._**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: 8 years ago  
**

* * *

 _She rushed through the moonlit streets, struggling with her burden as she ran. It was a strange sight- The boy she was carrying on her shoulders was about the same size as her and it was absurd that she could even run, let alone move with such speed._

 _Quickly, she started to tire. She had been doing this for a long time and her legs had started to hurt._

' _I can't keep this up forever." She thought, her mind racing as she analyzed the situation, desperately trying to think of a solution._

 _Finally, when she couldn't take it anymore, she slid to a stop and ducked into a deserted alley._

 _When she felt she was safe, she set the boy down before leaning against the wall. Breathing in deeply, she sucked in as much air as possible, trying to regain her energy._

 _She looked back, but saw no signs of her pursuer. And yet her instincts told her that someone was hot on her trail and that she had to keep moving._

 _She shifted closer to the boy and examined the nasty welt on his head. It looked marginally better now, but Mikasa still felt horrible._

' _It's my fault. My fault that Eren's like this' She thought._

 _She was tempted to cry, but she restrained herself. There was no point worrying right now. A monster was on their trail. He'd already managed to hurt Eren and if she hadn't been fast enough he would have killed them on the spot._

 _She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself on the spot._

 _Her internal alarms started blaring. Someone was close._

 _She looked around and realized that she'd trapped herself here. There was only one exit and that was the one from which she sensed danger._

" _No!"_

 _Mikasa started to tremble badly, struggling to stand. Her knees felt wobbly and her mind, it seemed, wasn't thinking straight._

 _She saw the shadow of an ominous figure appear on the wall. The shadow grew bigger and bigger, the threatening presence growing stronger every second._

 _Mikasa blinked hard and forced herself to regain control. She had already lost enough. Her family, her old life…everything. She wasn't willing to lose anything else._

 _Her eyes drifted towards Eren. 'Especially not him'_

 _She took a step forward, determined to take on her assailant, waiting for the perfect opportunity._

 _It never came._

 _A significantly shorter shadow seemed to materialize behind the first one and in a flash, hurled himself at the larger shadow. The sounds of men grunting and groaning, accompanied by the sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed through the alley and Mikasa watched in awe as the shorter figure slammed the larger one into the wall and delivered a heavy blow to the assailant's head, knocking him unconscious._

 _Once he was sure there was no immediate danger, the short man walked towards Mikasa and Eren. As he moved out of the shadows, his sharp features came into dark relief. He had black hair and dull blue eyes along with a well-developed musculature. He might have been short but that didn't make him look any less intimidating. As he drew closer to the two kids Mikasa hugged Eren protectively._

 _The man stopped a few feet away from them. His eyes locked onto Mikasa._

" _What is your name?" He asked her gruffly_

 _Mikasa bit her lip, hesitating. She considering keeping mum, but decided against it. Something told her that this man wouldn't take kindly to not getting an answer._

" _Mikasa" She replied._

 _When the stranger didn't seem satisfied, she completed it. "Ackerman. Mikasa Ackerman."_

 _She saw a sign of recognition in the man's eyes._

" _That explains it" He muttered to himself. "Damn fools hunting trying to hunt down a lost bloodline."_

 _He glanced at Eren. And his eyes grew wide. "Him too?"_

 _Mikasa shook her head. She assumed he was talking about the last name. "No. He's just someone who's very close to me."_

 _Her eyes brimmed with tears. She'd almost lost Eren today. She didn't know what she would have done if something like that had happened._

" _He needs help." She choked. "He's not strong enough to protect himself. I need to be there for him"_

 _The man's eyes seemed to bore holes through her. "Well, you did a bloody horrible job today. How are you going to protect him if you're too weak to defend yourself?"_

 _Mikasa froze as the reality of it hit her. Eren was hurt because she was too weak to help him. Too weak to do anything about it at all._

 _The man knelt down and his face softened a bit._

" _I can give you a chance." He told her. "I can make you strong. Strong enough that no one can hurt you or the ones close to you. Strong enough that no one will ever consider getting in your way."_

 _Mikasa looked down, her mind trying to process it all. What was the man talking about? Was it really a good idea to trust him?_

 _She glanced at Eren, his brows arched and his jaw set firmly, a frown set on his face even though he was unconscious. She remembered how he'd once saved her life. She remembered how she had been there with him when he had lost everything-the day his mother had died. She remembered the feeling of helplessness she had suffered from then, being unable to comfort him or give him hope of a better future._

 _And she decided._

" _Yes. I do."_

 _The man nodded, pleased with her answer. He picked up Eren._

" _Come with me then."_

 _Together they disappeared into the darkness._

* * *

 **A/N: And that's the first chapter, readers!**

 **I can't say I'm not tempted to re-read it and try to make things seem a little less awkward but then, I'd probably take forever to write something I'll be satisfied with so I'm going to let things be for now.**

 **As for this chapter, I felt a sort of flashback was necessary for a few elements of the story to make sense. Hopefully, things will smoothen out as I progress.**

 **I'd really appreciate constructive reviews or feedback of any sort. While I doubt I'll be able to fix anything that I've already posted, I'll hopefully be able to incorporate your advice into later chapters.**

 **Also, reviews have this weird ability to seriously encourage writers and brighten up their day. Weird huh?**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm back. Whew! This chapter took a long time. I wasn't really sure about how I was going to get things started but now I feel more comfortable with the basic outline of the plot so expect chapters to come out more frequently.**

* * *

 **Chapter-2:  
**

* * *

Sasha took a deep breath. It was dark. Too dark. She felt extremely uncomfortable. The fact that one of the agency's strongest soldiers was by her side did nothing to calm her down.

Mikasa was her usual self- waiting quietly in the shadows, paying close attention to her surroundings. Unlike Sasha, she seemed to be in her element - embracing the darkness, _using it._

Together they crawled through the undergrowth.

"Remind we why we're here again." Sasha grumbled. She was bored, tired and hungry and she didn't know when this operation was going to end.

Mikasa's cold black eyes surveyed their surroundings.

"We got an anonymous tip-off" She said at last. "I don't know all the details, but this is big. We need to be on our toes."

She stopped at a particular place and sat up, parting the tall grass in front of her to get a clear view of the area ahead. She stayed silent for a while, then gave a quick nod to Sasha, who scrambled to her position.

"This will be our vantage point." Mikasa whispered to her.

Sasha rolled her eyes. "Vantage point? We're in a bush!"

Mikasa gave her a nasty look and Sasha decided not to say anything for sometime.

They waited for what felt like hours. Sasha tried her best to stay awake but it was the middle of night and she hadn't slept for a long time.

Eventually she dozed off.

* * *

"Wake up!" Mikasa hissed, shaking Sasha violently. "They're here!"

Sasha's eyes shot open and in a flash, she'd gained her bearings. Mikasa was impressed. She'd been worried that the brunette might compromise the mission, but it looked like things were under control. A hundred meters ahead of them, a car had swerved to a stop.

Eventually, three people emerged from the car. Their faces were difficult to observe in the faint moonlight which filtered through the trees but if Sasha had to guess, she would have said that there were two boys and a girl.

Mikasa nudged Sasha. "Quick! Do your thing!"

Sasha stared at the trio and focused hard.

The noise of the wind hitting the trees and her own shallow breathing seemed to fade away as the voices of the three teenagers grew clearer and clearer, as if she was standing right next to them.

"...not safe!" The shorter boy complained, his hands balled into fists as he paced around nervously. "This is a bad idea. You know how dangerous the world has become these days. People want to capture us! They want to use us for experiments and stuff as if we're freaking animals or something!"

"I-I think Jars is right, Dan." The girl whispered, eying her surroundings nervously. "This place doesn't seem right. What if he's lying?"

"Bullshit." Dan spluttered though he didn't seem too confident himself. "He wouldn't lie about something like this. It wouldn't make sense."

"But what if-"

"No buts, Anya. Don't you get it? This is our ticket to safety! A life without running away!" His voice grew urgent. "We'll be free. And we'll have money. We might even be able to fix Jars' condition!"

"I don't think it can be fixed, Dan." Jars said sadly. "We should leave while we can."

Dan shook his head disbelievingly.

"You're afraid. Both of you. But you shouldn't be. We have each other! And we've got this"

He held his palm up and Sasha watched in awe as a tiny flame sprang to life on it, dancing merrily in his hand.

 _A user. With a gift of pyrokinesis from the looks of it.  
_

"Enough with that."

Sasha nearly jumped. She was confident in her superhuman senses and she was absolutely certain she would have heard someone sneak upon the teenagers.

And yet he was there, shrouded by fog, swallowed in darkness. Another person. He wore a dark cloak which fluttered in the wind. His hood was pulled down over his face.

"Enough with that." The hooded man repeated calmly, eyeing the flame. "You attract too much attention."

Dan closed his fist and the flame flickered out. He took a step away from the hooded man and towards his companions.

"You're- You're Delta?"

The man nodded.

Dan took a deep breath.

"Ok." He said at last. "You said you could help us out, right?"

"Yes" The man replied "I can. If you're willing to take a risk-"

"A risk?" Anya interrupted him "You never said anything about a risk before."

"I am now." Delta shot back harshly. "Don't think I'm here out of mere kindness. I don't have the luxury to worry about others. The only reason I'm helping you is because I stand to gain something from it. That is all."

Sasha grimaced a bit. She hadn't completely mastered this aspect of her power and straining her eyes and ears for long was giving her a mild headache.

Eventually, the man called Delta finished explaining what he had in his mind to the trio. He turned around and disappeared into the darkness. The three teenagers got into their car without saying another word and drove off.

Sasha collapsed onto the ground exhausted.

"Did you get all of it?' Mikasa asked her, looking worried.

Sasha nodded. Her head felt like it was splitting apart and her eyelids grew heavier.

"I got the gist of it. Now I'll have that nap I was talking about. Good night." She passed out immediately.

Mikasa sighed. Sasha would be alright.

She'd managed to listen to the conversation to some extent but her senses were simply not as well developed as Sasha's. She remembered the urgency in Levi's tone as he'd explained things to her.

' _It's important! I can't explain it right now but this needs to be done, brat!"_

Mikasa wasn't going to disappoint him. No matter what. She owed the captain. He'd saved her life and, more importantly, Eren's life at a time when she was too weak to defend him herself. He'd trained her, made her into the unbeatable soldier she was now.

She wouldn't let him down.

Picking up Sasha effortlessly, she turned around.

She looked up. The stars in the sky seemed to be mocking her, as if she was some sort of spectacle, something that would entertain them. She crouched a bit, the toes of her shoes pressing firmly against the ground.

And then she was gone, surging through the forest at insane speeds, the air filled with dust in her wake.

 _"What is this all about?"_ She wondered.

* * *

"A fighting tournament?" Levi asked the two of them, his eyebrows knit together. "Are you sure?"

Sasha nodded, unable to speak clearly because of the number of biscuits she'd stuffed into her mouth.

"That seems normal." Mikasa tugged at her scarf. "Did they say something else?"

"Dey thed there wood be users." Sasha said, gulping the food down. "A lot of them."

"And what about the prize" Levi asked her. "Did he say anything about the prize?"

Sasha thought for a while.

"He said he could help them with one of their problems. Apparently one of them had some sort of medical condition."

As Sasha explained what she had overheard in detail, Levi leaned back in his chair. He seemed worried. Mikasa knew he could keep his cool, even in the toughest of situations, but he was taking this very seriously.

"We need to be there" He said at last.

"Why?" Mikasa demanded. "It's not like there's anything illegal happening! It's just a normal tournament. Surely, the fact that he's searching for _users_ can't be such a big-"

"Yes it can!" Levi interjected. "You seem to have some difficulty understanding this, brat, so let me explain clearly. We live in a age where a _single_ person can take on thousands of seasoned warriors, maybe even armies, and still come out on top. Even a dozen or such people can pose a serious threat!" He leaned in closer. "And if there's someone like _you._ Someone who's nearly as strong, maybe even stronger than you... if he or she falls into the wrong hands, it could spell disaster for us."

A pause.

"There isn't." The room seemed to grow darker.

Levi scowled. "What did you say?"

"There isn't anyone stronger than me out there." Mikasa repeated, her eyes burning with a strange fire as the aura emanating from her grew stronger and stronger. Sasha backed away from her, looking wary.

The side of Levi's mouth twitched. "Very well then. Crush them. Show them that you are undoubtedly the one on top, the one person they cannot trifle with."

"I will." Mikasa's voice was cold and deadly. "Let's go, Sasha"

As she left the room, Levi felt a sea of emotions swirling inside him.

Anger? Guilt? Pride?

 _Fear?_

He'd been doing this job for years. But he'd never seen anyone as gifted or dangerous as Mikasa Ackerman. Her talent was simply on another level. She was calm, focused, cruel to her enemies and she didn't know failure.

 _An unstoppable killing machine._

But she was also a girl, an innocent soul who had been hardened by the harsh reality of the world. A girl who'd lost her childhood, and maybe the rest of her life, because of the nature of her powers and because Levi had convinced her to go into this line of work.

Whether she had surpassed him yet or not was uncertain, but she was pretty damn close.

Such a pity that she had that _boy as_ her shackles.

 _But he's the one who drives her._

Eren Yeager had never been anything but an ordinary brash teenager in Levi's eyes. The fact that he had once saved Mikasa's life didn't do much to impress him either.

He was a fool who couldn't even comprehend the true scope of her powers.

He scowled.

 _"Tchh. What a waste!"_

 _..._

* * *

It was morning.

Armin stood patiently in front of the door. He could hear angry voices yelling at each other on the other side, but he pretended otherwise. An old man gave him a strange look as he passed by and Armin avoided his gaze, staring at the floor awkwardly. He was well aware of the fact that he looked like a shameless eavesdropper, but what could he do? He'd been waiting here for a while now.

" _Hurry up!"_ He pleaded silently.

As if on cue, the door burst open and Eren tramped out, looking thoroughly annoyed. His brows were knit together and he had a scowl on his face.

"Let's go Armin!" He growled as he pounded away, grumbling under his breath.

Mikasa appeared in the doorway, looking tired and exasperated, her dishevelled hair all over her face. She looked like she hadn't slept in a while.

She caught Armin's eye and made him a silent plea which he immediately understood.

 _'Look after him.'_

Armin nodded reassuringly and Mikasa's shoulders seemed to relax just a little bit. She gave him a quick smile before disappearing inside.

Normally, a person would probably find it absurd if he was asked to look after someone his own age but Armin knew it was necessary. Eren could pick a fight with a brick wall if he wanted.

Armin turned around and hurried off, catching up with Eren.

"What was it this time?" He inquired.

Eren gritted his teeth. "The usual. She thinks I'm sort of nine year old kid who can't handle himself. And she simply _loves_ bossing over me."

Armin sighed. He wondered why he'd even asked. Eren always had this habit of making a big deal out of rather unimportant things when it came to Mikasa.

His thoughts drifted away as Eren droned on.

Eren had been the same hot tempered guy ever since Armin had known him. They'd met when the two of them were just kids and Mikasa had joined them soon after. At first, Armin didn't really know what to make of her. She had a restrained personality, talked very little and stayed with Eren most of the time. Armin imagined that she just didn't like him, but when Eren had explained things to him, he'd understood immediately and was horrified.

Mikasa had eventually warmed up to Armin and the three had become great friends. Things were fine. For a while.

Eren's voice jolted him back to reality.

"Armin! Aren't you listening?"

Armin stared blankly. Eren glared at him for a while, but rolled his eyes. He'd become accustomed to Armin's habit of frequently drifting into deep thought.

"I was wondering" Eren repeated "If you could figure out what's going on with her. You know, if you did that thing..." He gestured towards Armin's head.

Armin understood immediately, but was skeptical nonetheless.

"That's not how it works, Eren. I can't read minds."

"But maybe-"

"I told you! It's just feelings. Emotional patterns if you like that better. Complex thought processes are a completely different thing. And..."

He lowered his voice.

"... you know I hate using my powers! It makes me feel like I'm a thief. Like I'm poking my nose in someone else's business."

Eren stared at him angrily for a moment. Then his shoulders slumped and he sighed. "You said you wanted to say something to me though, didn't you? What was it?"

Armin tried hard not to smile. People might say Eren was too brash and hot tempered to have any friends and it was partly true. He usually managed to scare off anyone he could possibly acquaint himself with. But no matter how angry he got, he _never_ ever grew mad at Armin for anything. Which was strange, because normally it was because he wanted to protect Armin that he'd gotten into so many fights.

"I got a message this morning." He told Eren.

Eren waited.

"A message from our friendly neighborhood scientist."

Eren's eyes widened. "She's here?"

"No. But she's coming here in a few days."

Eren grew excited. "This is great! Did she say anything else?"

Armin shook his head. "She gave me nothing to go on. I have no idea what she's planning."

But Eren wasn't really paying attention. There was a new spring in his step. Armin felt happy for him.

 _Gifts_

That's what they called the special abilities people seemed to have these days. Like Armin's ability to read emotions and Mikasa's superhuman strength. No one knew where they came from or why it was only people in Shiganshina who seemed to develop theses powers. Their origin was a completely.

The moment Mikasa had awakened her powers, She had started to grow distant from Eren. She never stopped worrying about him but their relationship had taken a heavy blow.

Maybe it was just normal. Maybe it was because she kept fussing about him and refused to treat him as a mature individual. Maybe it was because of the hundreds of kids snickering behind his back, saying that he made his sister look bad and that he was nothing special. Whatever the case was, Eren hadn't responded positively.

People become sad when they are hurt. They try to isolate themselves from the rest. It wasn't very different in Eren's case. He felt sad too. But he hid it by pushing other emotions to the forefront. Like anger. And that didn't work out very well for him.

In the end, he'd decided. He wanted a gift as well. Desperately. He wanted to prove that he could grow out of his sister's shadow.

But that was the thing about gifts. Whether you got one or not wasn't up to you to decide. Armin tried to explain things to Eren but his words fell upon deaf ears.

In the end, they found Hanji Zoe- a self-proclaimed expert in the field of gifts and users. She'd helped them a great deal, ever since. She'd helped Armin to come to terms with his own powers and she'd even tried to give Eren some hope for getting a gift of his own, although admittedly , none of her plans had worked till now _._

Eren had given up on that particular dream of his a long time ago. He was just excited at the prospect of meeting her.

Armin tried his best not to read Eren's emotions, but sometimes they were so clear Armin couldn't ignore them. Like right now.

For the past few years, Eren had been lonely. He had almost no one. His parents were dead. Mikasa had changed. The only person he could really talk to was Armin.

He really needed to come out of his shell. Hanji was great at getting people to talk. And strangely enough, Eren , who usually wasn't enthusiastic about anything, always seemed to be interested in Hanji's research.

Armin sighed.

" _Hopefully this will keep his mind off other things for a while_ _._ "

* * *

 **A/N: That's all for now.**

 **If anyone's curious about the fights in this story, I'd say it would be a mix of Shonen style combat with a bit of strategy in the mix. Honestly, it all depends on how well I can handle them. I'm pretty confident, but who knows?**

 **Anyways, constructive feedback is seriously appreciated. Thanks for reading!**


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